Alan Craig Barnard

Artist Statement

“The tradition of landscape photography is closely tied to the desire to record and preserve the natural world for future generations. However, in this era of increasing environmental degradation, the validity of travel-based landscape photography—with it’s requisite carbon foortprint—is being called into question. Among environmentally-conscious landscape photographers, a new mantra ‘shoot locally, share globally’ is beginning to emerge.

My photographs merge this 21st century environmental ethos with aesthetics rooted in the 20th century Western-landscape tradition. They celebrate the beauty of nature, not in far off exotic places, but in small slices of open land near human development. They can be considered ‘local’ in the truest sense of the word; many depict scenes within walking distance of my studio in suburban Placer County, while the remainder document the beauty of nearby counties within the northern third or the Central Valley of California. The images speak to the importance of preserving natural lands, with a particular emphasis on the value of maintaining open spaces within the confines of developed environments.”